The Crown of Twelve Stars Devotion

http://www.giftsofaith.com/Products/rc39a.htmQ:What is the Twelve-Star Devotion? A: The Twelve-Star Devotion is of baroque origin and expression. It originated with the special attention attributed to Mary as Regina Mundi or Imperatrix Mundi in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The biblical reference is that of Revelation 12:1b conjuring up the “great sign of the woman in the sky, … clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”  Twelve is a number of perfection; it symbolizes the twelve tribes of the Old Testament people and the twelve apostles in the New Testament. In this particular devotion, the number twelve–the twelve stars–are seen in reference to the graces, privileges and charisms received by Our Lady from God. Mary, the Queen of Heaven–a typical baroque title!–is crowned with her perfections, one star for each one of the perfections. Here are these twelve perfections which became the object of the Twelve-Star Devotion:

Predestination before creation Without original sin conceived Overshadowed by the Holy Spirit Virgin before and after giving birth Birth giver of Jesus Christ Fullness of grace Introduced to the Mystery of the Trinity Seat of Wisdom Superior to the angels and humans Installed as Queen Called to be Mediatrix Revered by all creatures.

These perfections of Our Lady were recited or sung in litany form or became the object of readings, meditations and musical accompaniment. The devotion was used in parishes but led to elaborate celebrations in monasteries.

Reference to the stars surrounding the head of the apocalyptic woman and their symbolic interpretation did not originate only in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  We know of at least one earlier noteworthy example of such practice.  Saint Bonaventure, in his Sermons on the Blessed Virgin Mary deals extensively with the twelve-star symbolism.  In Sermo VI (devoted to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), he compares the twelve stars to Mary's prerogatives or privileges.
He elaborates first on Mary's sinlessness (immunitas a peccato) or better, immunity with regard to sin. The second star stands for highest purity (puritas in summo).  The third embodies fullness of grace (plenitudo gratiae), and the fourth reflects her perfect knowledge of God, insofar as God may be known in this world.  Stars five and six highlight Our Lady's perfection of love (perfectio caritatis) and its actual concrete expression (actus excellentissimus caritatis communicatio).  Mary is exalted beyond all other pure creatures (7--super omnem puram creaturam exaltatio).  We see in her the very embodiment of dignity (appropriatio dignitatis) which is also expressed in the Marian symbol of the Gate of Heaven (8).  The remaining four stars extol Mary's motherhood: she gave birth without woe or dolor (9--mater genuit sine vae); she is mother and virgin (10--ipsa est mater et virgo); her dignity as mother is of the highest degree because of the divine nature of her son (11--tanto est altior, quanto Deus homine est sublimior); and finally, Mary is not only mother of God according to the flesh, but also mother of men and women according to the Spirit (12--non tantum est ipsa Mater Dei carnalis, [sed etiam] hominum spiritualis).  See D. Fleming, S. Bonaventurae Opera Omnia, Tomus IX, 1901, 702-706.

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R

Stabat Mater Dolorosa

Mary most sorrowful, Mother who stood valiantly by the Cross while your Son died most pathetically , a death that was the great Atonement for our sins, be with us too to strengthen us in our times of trials and tribulations.

Here I quote Stabat Mater , the 13th century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III.

There are two Stabat Mater hymns, one the Stabat Mater Dolorosa is about the Sorrows of Mary, the other, Stabat Mater Speciosa joyfully refers to the Nativity of Jesus..The title of the sorrowful hymn is an abbreviation of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother stood")

    This powerful hymn meditates on the suffering of Mary as she stood by the Cross:

      "The following translation of the Stabat Mater Dolorosa is   not    word-for-word. Instead it has been adapted so as to represent the meter (trochaic tetrameter), rhyme scheme, and sense of the original text."

(Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabat_Mater)

Stabat mater dolorosa juxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius. Cuius animam gementem, contristatam et dolentem pertransivit gladius. O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta, mater Unigeniti! Quae moerebat et dolebat, pia Mater, dum videbat nati poenas inclyti. Quis est homo qui non fleret, matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio? Quis non posset contristari Christi Matrem contemplari dolentem cum Filio? Pro peccatis suae gentis vidit Iesum in tormentis, et flagellis subditum. Vidit suum dulcem Natum moriendo desolatum, dum emisit spiritum. Eia, Mater, fons amoris me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam. Fac, ut ardeat cor meum in amando Christum Deum ut sibi complaceam. Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide. Tui Nati vulnerati, tam dignati pro me pati, poenas mecum divide. Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero. Juxta Crucem tecum stare, et me tibi sociare in planctu desidero. Virgo virginum praeclara, mihi iam non sis amara, fac me tecum plangere. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem, passionis fac consortem, et plagas recolere. Fac me plagis vulnerari, fac me Cruce inebriari, et cruore Filii. Flammis ne urar succensus, per te, Virgo, sim defensus in die iudicii. Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per Matrem me venire ad palmam victoriae. Quando corpus morietur, fac, ut animae donetur paradisi gloria. Amen.

At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to her son to the last. Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed. O how sad and sore distressed was that Mother, highly blest, of the sole-begotten One. Christ above in torment hangs, she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son. Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ's dear Mother to behold? Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold? For the sins of His own nation, She saw Jesus wracked with torment, All with scourges rent: She beheld her tender Child, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent. O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord: Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord. Holy Mother! pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified: Let me share with thee His pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died. Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live: By the Cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, is all I ask of thee to give. Virgin of all virgins blest!, Listen to my fond request: let me share thy grief divine; Let me, to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine. Wounded with His every wound, steep my soul till it hath swooned, in His very Blood away; Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, lest in flames I burn and die, in His awful Judgment Day. Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, by Thy Mother my defense, by Thy Cross my victory; While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee. Translation by Edward Caswall Lyra Catholica (1849)

Virgin Mary , Mother of God, Pray for us sinners

Mary is the most gentle, the most silent character in the Bible. A humble maiden, a village lass, who led a very ordinary life in Nazareth, pondering everything in her heart! But she is the Virgin most Powerful, the New Eve, the New Ark of the Covenant!Yes,she is the Tower of David, the Seat of Wisdom!  To know her is to know Wisdom, because she carried in her womb the Word Incarnate, the Eternal Wisdom!
I hope to collect nuggets and quotes and poems from the Scriptures, tradition and literature. This , my Mother, will be my humble tribute to you.Let me begin from Literature .....
Here is what the English poet Wordsworth has to say about this Miraculous Woman of all ages....
         
The Virgin

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin allied;
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast;
Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast;
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend,
As to a visible Power, in which did blend
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee
Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

William Wordsworth